The most powerful weapon in the United States

“Our most formidable weapon is not our military strength, but rather our democratic ideals… It therefore seems oxymoronic that we would embrace a strategy that requires that we toss aside that strength in order to engage in a conflict on the terms we claim to abhor from our perceived enemies.”
—Byron Williams, “What is the Real Strength of the United States”

This argument centers around the basic question of whether our legacy is that of our democratic ideals and sense of justice, or if we will follow the trajectory of all empires. These arguments seem more powerful to me because they are couched in moral terms, not just practical ones.